Foundations of Data Science Bootcamp

Practical introduction to Python, SQL, data wrangling, exploratory analysis, and basic machine learning concepts.

Instructor: Vijay Gohil

Term: Fall

Location: New York University

Time: Fall 2022

Course Overview

This course introduced students to the practical foundations of modern data science. By the end of the bootcamp, students were able to:

  • Work comfortably with Python and SQL for data tasks
  • Clean, explore, and visualize real-world datasets
  • Train and compare baseline machine learning models
  • Present findings from data with clear analysis and supporting material

Prerequisites

  • Comfort with introductory programming
  • Basic probability and statistics
  • Willingness to work with hands-on assignments

Textbooks

  • “Python Data Science Handbook” by Jake VanderPlas
  • “Hands-On Machine Learning” by Aurélien Géron

Grading

  • Weekly exercises: 40%
  • Final project: 50%
  • Participation: 10%

Schedule

Week Date Topic Materials
1 Sept 19 Introduction to Python and SQL

Overview of Python and SQL basics

2 Oct 11 Data Wrangling Libraries

Intro to Numpy, pandas and scikit-learn.

3 Oct 22 Exploratory Data Analysis

Introduction to exploratory data analysis techniques.

4 Oct 29 Data Visualization and Cleaning

Data visualization techniques and data cleaning methods.

5 Nov 4 Data Science Project

Students work on a comprehensive data science project.